


Protection

by wardenmages



Series: DBH Rare Pair Week 2019 [3]
Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Autistic Connor (Detroit: Become Human), F/M, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-31
Updated: 2019-01-31
Packaged: 2019-10-19 16:17:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,127
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17604719
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wardenmages/pseuds/wardenmages
Summary: Connor has a meltdown while waiting to hang out with North.Rare Pair Week Day 3: Protect/Stars





	Protection

**Author's Note:**

> I headcanon that Connor is autistic and no one can stop me. Based off my own experiences with meltdowns. Also, he and North both have PTSD, and that's just straight up canon. Love these good disabled robo kids

It was too loud. Connor was sitting on one of the couches in the main rec area of the new android community center waiting for North, and it was fine at first, but not now. There was music blaring from multiple directions, groups playing several different games, and the lights buzzed in the ceiling and it was like his processors were all shaking. Too loud, too bright, too many people all staring at Connor, why were they staring at him, maybe they all really hated him for what he did, it's too cold and when did it get so cold, he deserved to be hated-

“Connor? You okay?”

Through the mass of static and sound he could barely pick out that someone was speaking to him. They knew him, but everyone knew him, and hated him. He didn't want them to hate him. He reached up and tugged his beanie down, grasping at the fabric and covering his ears with his fists.

_ >Request(Interface); _

_ >identifySerial(‘WR400’,Designation:’Traci’); _

_ >reassignName(‘Traci’=’North’) _

_ //Comment: Official assignment of designations still requires Cyberlife approval. Please include the reassignName command with any identification protocols to ensure your display shows the correct name until rights to self-determination are become law on March 1st, 2040. _

_ >Accept:Y/N _

_ >Y _

_ ‘Connor, can you talk?’ _ she asked over the connection. He shook his head. Talking out loud was impossible and he couldn’t think of the right words even in his own mind.  _ ‘Okay, we’re going to my room.’ _

Connor nodded. North put her hand on his arm, and his sensors spiked. The fabric of his sweater scratched against his arm and it felt like it was burning him. He fidgeted away and rocked forward in his seat with a low whine, like his vocal module was frozen in his chest. It  _ hurt _ , even though he couldn’t feel pain, and he didn’t  _ like it _ . North wouldn’t hurt him if she knew, but he couldn’t put the words together to tell her, all he could do was send the discomfort through the interface and hope she understood.

_ ‘Turn off the skin overlay on your hands.’ _

He could do that. The feeling was unpleasant, yet another sensation trickling across his processors, but then it was gone. All he could feel was the pressure of North’s hand grabbing his and pulling him along behind her. The thunk of their boots on the tiles and the scratching of fabric scraping against itself as they moved grated on his ears. He kept his eyes closed. He could trust North to get him there, but he couldn’t deal with the light and people passing by and staring at him, and...

A door shut - slammed banged boomed like a gunshot - and he was pressed down onto North’s bed. Her sheets and blankets were all so soft it felt like he was floating. The only light was a small lamp in the corner, out of his view so it wasn’t blinding, and the curtains were already pulled shut to hide the snow on the front lawn.

“The walls are pretty soundproof so hopefully you won’t be able to hear everyone outside. And you can make noise if you need to.”

Connor nodded and hastily removed his boots, socks, sweater and jeans, wincing at the way it scraped at his tactile sensors. Down to his t-shirt and boxers he pulled his knees up to his chest and buried his face in his lap. His stress levels were slowly ticking back down, still elevated but not dangerous. North reached around him to grab the controller for her game console and held the button down to switch it to the Home screen.

“I’m guessing you don’t want to watch movies anymore,” she said quietly.

Connor shrugged. He did want to watch movies with his girlfriend, and play North’s zombie game with the sound effects turned off because neither of them liked to hear the gunshots.

“I do,” he mumbled.

“Alright.” She crossed the room to her dresser, popping the game disc out of the console at the same time as she looked through her movie collection. “Simon dragged me out to this thrift store and they had a few movies your dad told me about last time I was over, you know when you had to shower because you fell into a mud pit during a case? He has the worst taste in movies, but Simon said these ones were good.”

She turned around holding up a DVD case,  _ The Cabin in the Woods.  _ “This is the one I was going to show you before, you know, it’s kind of a horror movie but it’s supposed to be funny? It’s just a bit gross in places, so if you don’t want to watch it that’s fine.”

That was still fine. He didn’t have the same reaction to horror movies that humans typically did.

“I want to.”

“Good. Oh, if you want it the weighted blanket is over here on the chair, I had to bring it to a meeting yesterday.”

He slipped down from the bed as she set up the movie, grabbing the blanket and draping it over his shoulders. If he focused hard enough he could pick up traces of the green tea soap she liked. Controller in hand, they settled back onto the bed, and he lifted the blanket up so North could slip under with him. She smiled and scooted closer.

“The special infected from the zombie game are in it for a few seconds,” she said as the trailers ran. “It was pretty cool. Also one of the main guys is cute and kind of looks like Markus.”

“Markus is cute too,” he added quietly. She snorted and tucked the blanket around them.

“Whatever, you bi disaster.”

“You’re also bi and think Markus is cute, what does that make you?.”

“Never said I  _ wasn’t  _ a bi disaster.”

“Of course.”

There was a moment of silence as a trailer for some old comedy movie that had not performed well played on North’s ancient scavenged TV. Finally she held his hand with their fingers intertwined.

“You doing okay now?” she asked gently.

He loved her. He loved her so much that it made his thirium pump beat faster just hearing her talk in that voice, the tone she saved for only a few people, and one of them was  _ him. _

“I’ll be okay,” he answered. “It was just too loud. My sensors were overloaded.”

“Another meltdown?”

He shrugged. “Yeah. It’s... It’s okay. I’m just stressed.”

She ran her thumb across the back of his hand. “Okay. Just... tell someone before it gets to that point, you can always come to my room even if I’m not here. Okay?”

“I will. I’m okay.”

And he was.

**Author's Note:**

> Jesse Williams, who played Markus, was one of the main actors in Cabin in the Woods. The game they're referring to is Left 4 Dead 2, in reference to my other story [Just Connor](https://archiveofourown.org/works/15541101/chapters/36201291). Fun fact, there actually was supposed to be a tie-in with Cabin in the Woods with a campaign for the movie which never panned out, but in the movie when they show all of the different monsters in the facility, you can see the Left 4 Dead 1 special infected in different cells!
> 
> I'm not sure if I'll be able to get tomorrow's up at a reasonable time, because I have a work meeting an hour and a half away from my house starting at 9 AM, then my office is having a dinner party in the evening, but I'm going to try :')


End file.
